1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disc reproducing apparatus, such as a DVD (digital versatile disc) player, and more particularly to an optical disc reproducing apparatus having a resume function that allows, when restarting previously suspended reproduction, reproduction to be restarted from immediately after the reproduction position on an optical disc where reproduction has previously been suspended.
2. Description of Related Art
An optical disc reproducing apparatus has what is called a resume function that allows, when a play key is pressed after a stop key is pressed to stop reproduction during reproduction of information on an optical disc, reproduction to be restarted from immediately after the reproduction position on an optical disc where reproduction has previously been suspended.
More specifically, in a case where operations are carried out, for example, by using a remote control, after an optical disc is inserted into an optical disc reproducing apparatus, reproduction of information recorded on the optical disc is started by pressing a play key provided on the remote control. When a stop key provided on the remote control is pressed during reproduction, the resume function is activated and a resume-on indication appears on a display device to indicate that the resume function is on. A predetermined time after the resume-on indication started to be displayed, the resume-on indication goes out. Another predetermined time thereafter, the optical disc reproducing apparatus as a whole is turned off so as to save power.
Examples of an appliance having a resume function are disclosed in JP-A-2004-164804 and in JP-A-S60-50784.
In a case where, with an appliance having a resume function, resume reproduction is carried out after a resume-on indication appears and before the resume-on indication goes out, since the resume-on indication remains displayed on a display device, it is clear not only to the user who has left the apparatus in a resume-stop mode but also to other people that the optical disc reproducing apparatus is in a resume-stop mode and that resume reproduction will be started by pressing a play key on a remote control or the like.
By contrast, in a case where the resume-on indication has gone out or in a case where, a predetermined time thereafter, the optical disc reproducing apparatus as a whole has been turned off, the current mode of operation of the optical disc reproducing apparatus may be unclear.
For example, when the optical disc reproducing apparatus is stopped during an optical disc reproducing operation and is left in a resume-on state, the resume-on indication goes out with time, and then, the optical disc reproducing apparatus as a whole is turned off. In such a situation, even the user himself/herself who has stopped the optical disc reproducing apparatus may forget that the optical disc reproducing apparatus is in the resume-stop mode, let alone other people, who have no way of knowing the current mode of the optical disc reproducing apparatus when they start using it.
When the optical disc reproducing apparatus is operated with the current mode thereof unclear as described above, if the play key is pressed, resume reproduction starts; if a key other than the play key, such as a stop key or a menu key, is pressed, the resume-on state is cancelled and an operation according to the pressed key, instead of the intended resume reproduction, will be performed. This reduces the user-friendliness of the optical disc reproducing apparatus.
In the appliance described in JP-A-2004-164804, pressing the stop button during a reproducing operation establishes a resume stop mode, sending the mechanism into a stopping phase. During the stopping phase, another pressing of the stop button is not accepted, and an invalid operation indication is displayed. It is not disclosed, however, how the appliance operates in a case where a resume-stop indication (a resume-on indication), which is displayed when the appliance is in the resume-stop mode, goes out a predetermined time thereafter.
The appliance described in JP-A-S60-50784 is a DAD (digital audio disc) player, which is different from an optical disc reproducing apparatus such as a DVD player in which a reproduced image, a resume-on sign, and the like are displayed on a display device.